Archibald Cox

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Archibald Cox, (born May 17, 1912, Plainfield, N.J.—died May 29, 2004, Brooksville, Maine), American lawyer who spent many years in government and teaching positions before serving for five months in 1973 as special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal until Pres. Richard M. Nixon ordered his firing—in what came to be known as the Saturday Night Massacre and which helped lead to Nixon’s resignation the following year—when he insisted that audiotapes of conversations and phone calls in the Oval Office be turned over to the investigators. Cox later returned to teaching, served as chairman of Common Cause (1980–92), and wrote a number of books.

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